Run The Blades is a running event within Whitelee Windfarm, combining a 10K, Half Marathon or Ultra race. Be warned it’s rather windy! Running is an odd thing, I had this race in my calendar for months, yet wasn’t motivated to train properly. The weeks after marathon, were a blur of enjoyable runs, but not long runs and being fairly busy (for me). So it got to the night before the race and well I hadn’t run double digits since the week after my marathon. Reading the race notes, I luckily realised despite a 10am start, it was actually a 9am start to get the bus up to Whitelee Windfarm.
So for the hour before the actual race start, I was just being a massive geek reading up about Whitelee Windfarm.
As you can see from the below map, it’s a pretty big place with plenty and I mean plenty of wind turbines.
The race itself was unsurprisingly windy. It was my first venture into a trail race and it was surprisingly good fun. I didn’t like the lack of mile markers, but apart from that I would definitely recommend it as a race.
For me, it was a definite mental health win. I had gone into the race knowing it was not going to be a PB, no way, hadn’t trained, wasn’t ready etc. And guess what, I didn’t PB, and guess what that is okay. It is. Not every race is going to be a PB. I started of way too quick, as ever, one day I will learn. Miles 5 and 6 sucked. I had seen the elevation profile before, so knew this bit was going to hurt. It did. Undeniably slow. I really struggled to keep the legs ticking over. Seeing a lady infront of me walking, wasn’t easy. I wanted to walk so bad. I knew there was a water station at the 10K mark. I am not a coordinated person, so with it being capless water bottles, I decided to stop, re-group, drink my water, then carry on running. The remaining mileage was again just about focusing on each mile, miles 7-9 are always where I wobble the most.
Now you get to near mile 11, and you see a rather large hill in the distance. I remember thinking, no way, they won’t. Oh, yes, yes they will. There was even a sign to stay smile, it’s only a small hill! This photo was taken near the peak of the climb. It doesn’t really do the place justice.
So hey, no PB. But we are calling it a mental health PB. (For the record, it was 1:50:33, and I did manage to be 9th female…) Here is to enjoying races and having fun. To the point, someone said I seemed remarkably cheery. Going in with the correct race atittude is everything. Instead of beating myself up at the start of the lack of training, and being negative, I decided to just enjoy it. I really did. If you are ever in Glasgow, take a trip out to Whitelee. Take the dogs, some walking boots, the bikes, or a good old pair of trainers. Definitely going to go back and go for a longer run.
It was all worth it though, for this Run The Blades medal alone. Yes, I knew beforehand the medal spun, and yes I spent the majority of the race thinking of the perfect boomerang.
